Getting Home
by crazytomboy78
Summary: When a strange new superhero crash-lands in Fair City, it becomes Wordgirl's job to assist her in getting back to her home town before her classmates make the discovery that the new girl in school and the new superhero in town are linked.
1. How'd I Get Here?

**Hey people! Ok, this is my first WG FF. So go easy on me. Disclaimer, don't own, don't own…except my OC that I do own. **

"Okay mom, I'm taking Brownie on a walk!" a young girl of around six yelled into her house as she zipped up her coat and entered the brisk fall air.

"Okay, be careful honey!" the mother yelled back. The young girl closed the door behind her and walked down the sidewalk with her chocolate lab puppy. The little girl fixed the hat covering her shoulder-length light brown hair with dirty blonde highlights so it would better warm her ears. Her green eyes shone with excitement as she took her first walk with her new puppy, which she had received for her recent birthday.

"Hey April! What's up?" Her friend called to her as she drew on her driveway with chalk, along with her siblings.

"Hey Cathy!" April waved as she continued down the street. Cathy was one of her closest friends, but often had to look after her younger siblings; today being one of those times.

A few houses later, April came to an old abandoned house. She'd passed it a few times before in her life, but had never considered entering it. Today seemed different. She had a newer curiosity for the house, and lately more and more wanted to know what resided inside. She stood outside the old house for a moment, pondering whether to go in or not. After a few minutes, she decided to go inside.

"Come on, Brownie!" April came up to the door and paused a moment before listening to the squeak of the door as she opened it. She stepped inside and heard the floors creak under her feet.

"April Lewis, you are not afraid to go inside…" she muttered to herself. She looked around as she shut the door behind her. There were old, black-and-white photographs of a man standing next to some weird machinery.

Then she caught a greenish glow from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see that there was a door, glowing green behind it. She approached it slowly. She was beyond scared to open the door and see what was inside, but she did anyways. There was a flight of stairs leading to some sort of a basement. When she came to the bottom of the stairs, she saw a bookshelf. The glow was coming from behind it.

"Maybe if I start pulling books it'll lead me to a secret lair or something," she told herself aloud, having seen it on TV numerous times. She started to randomly pull books from their places; nothing seemed to work. She stepped back and surveyed the shelf.

She looked into the bookshelf once more. Then she saw something that caught her eye; one book was out of order, and that bothered her. She took it out to dust it off, but before she had time to do so, the floor disappeared from below her.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and when she awoke something wasn't right. This was just an old abandoned house, why would a whole hidden room be in it?

She looked around. It seemed to be some sort of old scientist's laboratory. There was machinery she had never seen or even dreamt about before everywhere. Was this guy some kind of TV-stereotype mad scientist or something?

Then she saw a glass, cylindrical container. She slowly walked over to it. There was a small lion cub with a flower in its mouth levitating in the center, made entirely of crystal. It was almost as if it was what was glowing...

Suddenly, with her hand dropped to her side, she felt a cold tongue brush against her fingers. She looked down to see Brownie licking her hand.

"Cut it out, Brownie!" April whipped her hand up out of reach of the puppy and pressed her wet hand against the glass; then everything went dark as she screamed loudly in pain.

~…~

"Honey, what's that on your hand?" April's mother asked as April walked back inside her house. As April took Brownie's leash off and set it on the counter, she examined her hand. There was a large scar in the shape the same as the crystal figure back in the laboratory in the abandoned house.

"This? I have no idea, I just noticed it actually." April explained.

"Well does it hurt?" April's mom rubbed her fingers over the strange marking.

"Ouch!" April whipped her hand away.

"Only when it's touched, hmm?" April's mom said.

"Look, mom it's fine for now. I'm going to go to my room." April walked to her room, Brownie following behind her.

"Hey, hey April, let's play fetch! I wanna fetch!" April heard a strange new voice from behind her. She looked behind her to see Brownie smiling up at her.

"What? Who was that?" She asked.

"It's me, Brownie!" the voice chirped back.

"What? That's not possible, dogs don't talk." April said.

"Then how do you understand me?"

~…~

April looked at the mysterious scar with concern as she scratched her neck on her way to school.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" April greeted her friends as she continued to scratch at her neck and chin wildly.

"April, are you okay?" One of her friends asked.

"No, it's terrible; I've been so itchy all day!" April complained.

"Maybe it's a rash." Another friend suggested.

"Does it look red here?" April asked, removing her hand from the area. Her friends shook their heads.

"Looks okay to me." One friend said.

"This is so weird!" April whined, "I'll see you guys in class..." April sighed as she scratched more and walked off. Her friends worried. April, however, walked into her elementary school only to find all the kids stare at her a moment, then: either laugh to their friends, walked away creeped out and disgusted, or plain ran away from her. April was worried. Was there something wrong with her? She automatically ran into the bathroom and checked the mirror. There was HAIR growing from her neck, in the very same area she'd been itching all morning. Even more bizarre, it felt like animal fur. April proceeded to freak out.

_**~Five years later~**_

"U-uhh, yeah mom that's great and all, but I have to go, uhh, to Cathy's! I said I'd go over there to play." April quickly lied. She rushed out the door and in a hurry, was circled by wind and jungle-forest vines that transformed her into her super heroine alter-ego, Animalia. She flew downtown in a rush to fight crime.

"Negagloom, drop that ray gun!" Animalia demanded of the villain.

"Try and stop me, Animalia, but your attempts will fail!" Negagloom cackled.

"Oh yeah?" Animalia crossed her arms.

"Look, in the sky! A plane in peril!" he pointed to the sky. Animalia flew into the sky to save the plane and its inhibitors, only to find there was no plane.

"What the heck? You tricked me!" Animalia lowered herself to the ground, but felt something hard on her feet. Suddenly, she went flying out of control. Her last glimpse of her city was caught as she saw Negagloom waving with a dark smile painted onto his face.

~…~

"Hey, are you okay? Come on, wake up little critter." April heard a voice poking at her. She noticed that her hand wasn't a hand, it was a wing. She suddenly stood and turned back to a human, startling the onlookers.

"What the heck? Where am I?" She asked.

"Fair City, who are you?" a young girl in red and yellow clothing explained curiously.

"I'm Animalia, the superhero that protects Bridgetown. I guess Negagloom's force field sent me flying…" April said.

"Negagloom?" the girl asked. The crowd seemed somewhat interested but somewhat bored.

"Another superhero?" she asked.

"Another?" April asked.

"I'm Wordgirl, I'm the superhero that protects the city." She explained.

"Well, in that case, I guess I have a few questions to ask you…"

**If this was a short chapter, sorry. How'd I do so far? Constructive criticism? Review?**


	2. Have To Fit In

**Hey guys! What's uppp. I don't know when this will get posted, because I don't have a lot of time, so let's just see.**

"So, what's your story?" Wordgirl asked. I shot her a questioning look.

"My story?" I asked.

"Yeah. Like, how did you end up here, how'd you get your powers, stuff like that." Wordgirl explained.

"Well, it happened a few years ago. Let's put it this way. You know how you're Wordgirl?" I asked.

"Yeah? Why?" Wordgirl asked curiously.

"Well, I'm like you but with animals and plants. Except the whole alien thing." I explained. She nodded in understanding.  
"Ooh, okay. I get it." She said. I nodded.

"Yeah. It happened years ago when my dog and I went to this abandoned house with some weird lab in the basement, and fused my dog's DNA with mine; like I'm normal me but now with a part dog DNA and I can understand animals and all that." I explained. She nodded.  
"So what are you in Fair City for then?" she asked politely.  
"Well, I kinda need help getting back home. I was tricked into coming here, in a way. Now I have no idea where I am." I explained.  
"Oh. Well we can find your hometown, no problem. I don't know how long it will take though, and we'll have to make sure you didn't break a bone on that landing of yours. Otherwise it could be awhile. You can always stay and help me out with the crime fighting if you'd like." Wordgirl offered.  
"Thanks, sounds great!" I smiled. I turned my attention to a squirrel scampering up a tree with a mouthful of nuts.  
"Hello there, Mr. Squirrel!" I waved. He squeaked a muffled hello back.  
"The animals here are so nice!" I smiled. Wordgirl scratched her head. I could tell I'd take some getting used to.

~…~

"Psst, Wordgirl! Over here!" A girl whispered. She looked panicked and pretended to ignore me.

"Wordgirl!" The girl said louder, running up to her.

"What? I'm not...I mean, how could I be?" she lied.

"Relax, I won't tell anyone," The girl said.

"Who are you anyways? I mean not to be rude," Becky/Wordgirl asked.

"It's me, Animalia in my alter ego! My names April." She explained.

"Why are you at my school?" She asked, perplexed.

"Because I want to fit in at your town while I'm here!" She explained.

"Well, keep it on the down low. No one but me you and Bob know my secret. I'd like to keep it that way." Becky whispered. April held a thumb up.

"Gocha!"

"Hey Becky, who's your friend?" Asked Violet as she approached her friend.

"Uuh, this is April, my…umm, second cousin once removed? She's from….Montana, and she's here for a few days. Yeah." Becky made up a quick lie.

"Ooh, that's cool! Welcome to the area, April!" Violet smiled politely. April waved shyly. Then the bell rang for class.

"Okay, see you later Becky!" Violet said as she walked to her class.

~…~

_April's POV_

I found my classroom in a matter of a few minutes after the bell. The teacher, of course, excused me for being a new student. I looked around the classroom, not seeing any faces looking familiar. It made me nervous in a way. I found an open seat in the back of the class and sat for class. As I listened to the teacher's lecture, I felt my hand tingle. I peeked at it as it sat in my lap and noticed my hand-or not so much a hand anymore-was furry, brown and a paw. I gasped and immediately hid it from other's eyeshot.

It was weird, my powers were never like this before. I always controlled my transformations, not the other way around. It could only lead me to one conclusion…

Something is wrong.

**Well, sorry if that was short. It's kind of a filler chapter. Review?**


	3. What's Wrong?

**Hey, people. Sorry it took so long, I was updating a few days go when I got sidetracked and forgot to update this one. Terribly sorry!**

"Umm, Becky, can I speak to you?" I asked, glancing towards Violet, "Alone?" I added. Becky nodded.

"Excuse me for a moment, Violet." I took Becky aside.

"What's wrong—"

"There's something wrong with my powers, seriously wrong." I interrupted. She gazed at me curiously.

"Like how?" She asked. I pulled my arm from my sleeve to reveal the fur and the paw. She gasped. I nodded.

"That's what I said. I _have _to get home as soon as possible; it's the only way to get to the bottom of this." I hid my arm back into my sleeve and folded my arms.

"Well there are some pretty good scientists in Fair City that can help you." Becky offered.

"I guess it's worth a try…" I sighed. I knew there wasn't a very good chance anyone would know how to help me in this town, but if there was someone, it was worth a try to look for.

"I'll bring you by after school. I know someone who's bound to know at least a little something."

~…~

Wordgirl knocked on the door of a dark, seemingly lifeless office door. A shadow, slightly darker than the rest of the office, was moving about in the office to open the door. Soon, the door swung open to reveal a taller, older man opened the door.

"Professor Franklin? We need your help." She explained, motioning towards Animalia.

"Of course, I can help you with whatever you need. Please, come in." Wordgirl and Animalia walked into the office and Professor Franklin closed the door.

"What seems to be the trouble, girls?" He asked after getting himself settled.

"Well, my powers aren't working. I mean, they work, but they're out of control. And I've had them for years now." Animalia explained.

"Like how?" He asked.

"Like, my transforming powers are out of control. Earlier today, I had the arm of a lion but my normal body." Animalia explained. Professor Franklin nodded and stood. He went to his different assorted files and started fishing around for something.

"When the superpowers of a hero or villain suddenly act 'on the fritz', it simply means that the hero or villain is receiving a new power." The professor showed them a diagram of the inside of the superhuman body.

"Each super-human has a source of their power somewhere within their bodies. It works like a brain in a way; all the control over your powers comes from that source. If a new power rolls in, it needs space to fit into the source of power; thus affecting the other powers." The doctor explained.

"What new powers?" Animalia asked.

"Why, I don't know. I'd have to test for that." He held up a needle. Animalia, in a panic, grabbed Wordgirl's arm and rushed out.

"NOthanksthat'sokaywehavetogo!" Animalia rambled as they rushed out.

"I can't believe I'm getting a new power. I wonder what it could be…" April suddenly felt an itch on her back and reached to itch it.

"Ugh, there's the one spot on my back that I can't reach and it itches like crazy…" April complained. Suddenly being able to reach it, she itched it and moved on with her day. Becky was quisitive of April's sudden ability to reach an unreachable spot on her back, but decided to leave it alone because it didn't really matter. She'd keep it for a record if they ever wondered about her new power, though.

~…~

Becky walked into her house with April after stopping at Professor Franklin's office.

"Where were you today, Becky?" Her father asked after a hello as they walked in.

"U-uh, the library for a little homework time. Dad, this is my friend from school, April. She, uhh, her parents are out of town for a few days and she needs a place to stay. Can she stay here?" Becky asked sweetly.

"Sure, no problem at all." Tim smiled and went about his business.

**Sorry for all the short chapters, but that's kind of all I wanted to say for this ?**


	4. Being Super: Advantage or Not?

**Whooo, I need to get on top of these stories. I'm taking too long to update. I'm sorry, I've been getting so many other ideas that I kind of forgot about this one. I'm so sorry!**

Becky and April walked into the zoo gates on a fresh new Saturday afternoon in hopes of making April a little less upset about being stuck in Fair City with her powers going awry. Plus, it was a good way for her to be more in control of her powers while she was in public. They came across the first stop of the day, the bear cage. April smiled and approached the cage, grasping the metal bars. Becky rolled her eyes as she watched April begin to converse with the creature.

"Gee, it looks awful cramped in there. You sure you have enough room?" April asked. The bear growled in response and April crossed her arms and shook her head.

"They aren't taking care of your spacious needs very well, are they? Who ever thought of putting helpless, innocent animals in cages for the enjoyment of others anyways?" April complained. The bear growled once more.

"I know, right? I mean, bears need space. First of all, you're a large creature and your environment is large as well. I mean, you need a river heavy with salmon, a spacious cave for your cubs and yourself, and what you're living in is this tiny cage. How do you live with it?" April complained. As they conversed more, Becky tried not to think of how weird it was to watch a girl talking to a bear. For having a half supernatural life, watching someone with superpowers was weird. And that was saying something. Suddenly, with her super-hearing, Becky caught the sound of a siren going off, accompanied with terrorized screams and a cry for help, for the Butcher was robbing the bank once more. Becky thanked her crime-ridden city for giving her a reason to leave this weird scene.

"Uhh, April? Can I talk to you?" Becky asked, pulling April aside as she looked around to see if anyone was listening. April grunted and crossed her arms.

"What was that for? I was having a conversation." April asked, irritated.

"There's trouble downtown." Becky explained. April's eyes lit up.

"Ooh, can I help? I miss fighting crime!" April begged. Becky sighed.

"No, you can't! Your powers are all messed up, remember?" Becky explained. April shifted her weight between hips.

"But that doesn't mean I can't still partially control them! Come on, I'm dying for some action!" April begged more. Becky was silent for a moment, then gave in.

"Fine, you can help." April squealed in delight and followed Becky to hiding so they could transform into their super heroine alter-ego. While Becky placed two fingers on her chest and exclaimed 'Word up!', April started levitating inches above the ground as green jungle-vines surrounded her in a whirlwind and set her down in her alter-ego uniform, a green shirt with the design of vines, flora and other jungle and/or animal prints on it, with one long sleeve and one tank-top sleeve, which was detached from the legging-pants with the same design as the shirt. Due to the shirt and pants being detached, there was an area of exposed belly between the outfit where it separated from shirt to pant. Wordgirl gawked at Animalia's costume for a moment, then led Animalia downtown to stop the butcher.

"Stop right there, Butcher!" Wordgirl exclaimed. Animalia, floating behind Wordgirl, crossed her arms.

"No! Make me!" The Butcher responded. Animalia suddenly made her presence known.

"We might just have to take you up on that, then!" she exclaimed as she rose the flowers from the ground and shot their pistols at the Butcher. The Butcher, now covered in flower pistols, could not move very well.

"What the heck? Who are you?" he asked. Becky sighed as she floated.

"Yeah, she's not going to be here for long. Just until we can get her home." Wordgirl explained. The Butcher shrugged and flung sausages at Animalia, exclaiming "Sausage Cyclone!" as he flung them. Animalia dodged them by forming a shield from trees using her supernatural powers. Becky, standing in the background, felt like she wasn't needed with Animalia taking care of everything.

"You'll never defeatate me! I'm invinkable." The Butcher explained. Wordgirl, suddenly finding purpose, spoke up,

"Actually, it's defeat and invincible!" She corrected.

"Invincible meaning?" The Butcher asked. Before Wordgirl could answer, Animalia explained,

"It means that nothing can stop you." The Butcher nodded in understanding. Wordgirl sighed and watched Animalia finish off the Butcher and send him to jail. Becky felt threatened that Animalia would take all the crime in the city in place of Wordgirl, and the citizens would eventually ask her to stay forever and replace Wordgirl. Her fears being realized by the cheers of the town.

"Who is she? She's amazing! She cleaned up that crime faster than Wordgirl could!" One person exclaimed.

"Animalia, stay forever and fight crime for us!" Another begged. Wordgirl gasped at the question.

"Aw, you guys are too kind. Thank you, I know I'm awesome," Animalia accepted her sudden fame a bit more than Becky wanted them to. Wordgirl sighed and rushed to take April home, transforming when they got back to the Botsford home.

"What the heck? Why did you rush home? I was having fun." April complained.

"Look, you fought the crime and defeated the villain. Enough is enough, it's done." Becky explained, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't stay and listen to all the 'thank you''s and let your people know I'm here for them." April explained.

"Yeah, _my _people. Don't you have your own town to protect?" Becky complained. April huffed.

"They don't appreciate me anyways. I defeat a stupid villain and no one ever pays any attention to it. Your people seem to like people who _actually _save the town from peril."

"I would have if you'd have let me do anything!"

"You're just jealous because I'm getting more attention than you!" Becky was silenced. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh yeah? W-well, you can just find your own way home because you're NOT WELCOME HERE ANYMORE!" April dropped her arms to her side. They were silent once more before April found her way to the door.

"And I'm not in it for the attention." Becky added.

"Yeah? Well it sure doesn't seem that way," April opened Becky's front door and turned back to Becky before exiting, "You know, I'm sorry I came to you for help in the first place because for a superhero," April paused, "You're pretty selfish."

**If that was too short, then yes you can slap me. It was a good dramatic chapter, but oh well. Review?**


	5. Anger

I flew to the rescue of the local museum as it was being robbed. Someone was stealing its newest attraction, an old quilt that belonged to some queen during the middle Ages. I had no idea who would want some weird old blanket, but as long as they were stealing something it was up to me—and as much as I don't want to say it, Wordgirl (after all it is her town)—to stop them. I found the museum with no trouble at all and rushed inside to see some old lady holding the quilt and two police officers attempting to stop her. I don't know how an old lady would steal something, but I guess I'd soon find out.

"Stop right there!" I announced. Everyone turned to face me with confused looks on their faces.

"Who the blazes are you?" The old lady asked. I hovered just inches off the ground.

"My name is Animalia and I am here to stop you from robbing this museum!" I paused a moment, "That is to say, you are the one robbing this museum right? I've never had to stop an old lady before…" The old lady crossed her arms as if she was offended.

"Yes, I am robbing this museum! Don't doubt me!" Secretly, I pressed stop on the tape recorder behind my back. No one knew it yet, but I'd just played her like a violin. I'd learned a few things about the right and wrong way to catch a villain. It depended on how they portrayed themselves, what their theme was. All villains had some sort of theme. And that was usually a good thing to use against them when trying to jail them. That is to say, during a fight it's always best to pick out good evidence to use in the trial that would get them in the big house where they belonged.

"Hah! Gocha! Now hand over the blanket, uhhh…" I stopped because I didn't know her name.

"Oh, Granny May, dear." She explained politely.

"Thank you. Hand over the blanket, Granny May!" I announced. She hugged the blanket to herself a moment then set it aside and pulled out the chopstick-looking hair accessories from her gray bun. I stood in a readied pose for whatever she had to dish out. Soon enough, a purple yarn was shooting from her hair accessories and with razor sharp reflexes, I shot out my thorniest vines to counteract her move. The lines tangled and fell to the floor in a heap. She froze, shocked. I laughed at how awesome that just was. I'm pretty sure no one had seen that coming. They may have expected me to get wrapped in Granny May's purple yarn or something. Before I could pause long enough to allow her to get away, I tied her up with my super vines and let the police handle the rest. As I turned to tell everyone who had been watching the scene that they were welcome, Wordgirl was floating there, shocked. It was really awkward.

"Oh. Here to hog the attention?" I spat. She crossed her arms and straightened her face.

"No, I came to do my _job_, you know, being a superhero for MY town?" Wordgirl said.

"Yeah. I'd say you did a swell job of it considering once you showed up I was already done!" I said sarcastically.

"S-So? I got here as fast as I could! It's not my fault you got here first!" I could tell she didn't know what else to say.

"That's kind of pathetic, that's all you could come up with? You're calling yourself the town superhero and you can't even defend yourself against _that_?" She looked a bit mad now.

"Shutup!" She yelled.

"Make me, Molasses!" I yelled back.

"Why you—" Before she could charge at me, she was held back by Scoops, who had been at the scene to get the full report on it for The Daily Rag. She still really wanted to get at me, because she was squirming like a bug. I smiled smugly and watched her get towed away from me. It's not like she was no match for me—I could take her down in my sleep and I knew it. I just didn't want to make a scene and more importantly I don't fight people who aren't doing something illegal because as long as I know there's not a law against it I know that I shouldn't interfere unless I have a suspicion that it's a plot to disobey the law. I'm a devoted superhero, not some sordid wrestler.

As I flew higher in the air, I said one last thing before leaving. "Oh, and by the way, just because you're the superhero for this town doesn't mean it's your town."

~…~

April walked into the school, careful to avoid Becky. It's amazing, she thought, how ignorant these people can be. Isn't it so obvious that Becky is Wordgirl? _I mean, both Becky and Wordgirl have a knack for words and both of them have the same face, hair, and monkey friend. _April found her way to her classroom and found her desk. Her Fair City friends soon enough surrounded her with talk of how their weekends went. April was rather sad that she'd made all these friends, because she was planning on leaving sometime during the course of the week. She liked the people in Fair City, they were all so nice. Unlike the unforgiving, selfish stuck-up, please-act-your-age snobs that went to her school back in Bridgetown. She told everyone an obvious lie of her weekend—going to the fair with her aunt and uncle and cousins, having a great time, the next day having a fun day playing by the lake in the park.

She didn't like to lie, but it's what she did with everyone. She knew that every good superhero never revealed their secret identity to anyone (with the acception of if you had a sidekick, then you had to tell them). She didn't like the rule, either, but she had to follow the rules of being a good superhero until she found a good way around them. It wasn't looking bad to everyone else that she was trying to avoid, it was whether being a superhero would work if everyone knew her secret and was hounding her every minute of the day to the extent where she couldn't even stop common crime without being hounded by fans, or even go to school ever again. Not even her family knew, and she'd never lied to them in her life—and if she didn't have superpowers she would never lie to her family about anything. But she had no choice.

April had a normal-ish day at school all until it was time for recess. It started out normal—she put her books in her locker, went out to the playground with her friends, started swinging on the swing set alongside her friends—but then Becky came out with her friends, and April didn't like seeing her. It was made even worse for April when Becky walked over to the jungle gym across from the swings. Becky and her friends climbed it and sat atop it and started chatting amongst themselves, and that's when Becky spotted April. They didn't say anything or even bother to move, just shot long angry glares as each other for the longest time. Their friends seemed to be siding with whoever they were hanging out with, because they were either holding onto swing chains or hanging from metal jungle gym bars. Except Becky's friends seemed to be ignoring April and her friends being there, because they didn't seem to mind anyone being where they were.

The whole playground seemed to be silent. All the other classmates just stared in awe at the disagreeing girls. April had first come to this school glued to Becky's side, they'd been so close friends that no one had seen it coming: April and Becky were fighting. It was like the apocalypse. They never saw most things that happened coming—their thought process was "the odds of Becky and April fighting are like the odds of Becky being Wordgirl-impossible!" obviously it proved to be a feeble process of thought. They stared silently as they continued to stare at the girls' glares. April's friends seemed to be playing along with April's anger, but Becky's friends just blindly ignored Becky's anger and played on the jungle gym gladly.

"You know, you got a lot of nerve just sitting there. Don't you have some crime not to stop?" April said, not breaking her stare. Becky grunted.

"I'll have you know the citizens of this town were perfectly satisfied with me until you showed up." Becky shot back with a raised eyebrow. Although she made a point with that one, April would not take a loss as an answer.

"You're really asking for it, girlie!" April said, standing immediately. Becky stood angrily.

"Oh yeah? Bring it!" Becky threatened. April would have sent her fists flying if her friends hadn't held her back. Much to April's dismay, a teacher had seen this display and rushed out onto the playground to settle the matter. The teacher grabbed April and escorted her to the detention room. On her way back inside, April's rebuttal was:

"W-well Becky is-" But she was cut off by the austere teacher demanding silence upon punishment.

The last thing April saw as she was unfairly dragged away was Becky's smug smirk.

**Well, that's that for this chapter. I posted an alternate chapter ending on deviantart, which is the idea I thought of posting on this chapter but decided against because of future events in the story. Well, that's just if you're interested. Review!**


	6. Fan the Flames After a Fire

What I had feared all day had finally arrived: sunset. Since I'm mad at Becky, there's no way I'm staying at her house, or her secret spaceship hideout. I didn't want anyone to see me sleeping on a park bench, because I'm no hobo and I didn't want anyone to think such a thing of me. Alley? No, too dangerous. Can't get tied up with an orphanage. Didn't have enough money to rent out a hotel room for the night. I'd have to transfer back to my school in Bridgetown before I could find my way back—and besides that, I had no idea how to get home.

I came to the conclusion that I could just turn myself into a squirrel and sleep in the trees with the rest of the cute little squirrels.

~…~

"Honey, where's your friend?" Mrs. Bottsford asked when she noticed that April was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, her parents came home early because something came up. So she went home." Becky found a quick lie. Her mother nodded in understanding.

"Ooh. Well okay then,"

"Oh, but she said thank you for letting her stay." Becky didn't want to make April look good, but she was no villain and she didn't like making people look bad. Even if she was mad at her. It wasn't in her good nature.

"Well she's very welcome."

~…~

Fair City may have been peaceful, but just miles down the road laid despair and hopelessness.

"Where is Animalia?"

"Who will save us?"

"Someone help!"

"Let us out of this prison cell!"

And plenty more cries of despair bellowed from the mouths off innocent citizens of Bridgetown yelped for their favorite—and only—superhero. It had seemed that the person who had been protecting them over the years had let them down and failed to protect them. What were they to do, with no savior? Stay in this lowly prison cell, left to die? Someone had to step up. They could not remain waiting for their super heroine to save the day a week too late.

The only person who was not trapped in the prison cell with the whole town was a boy, around the age of eleven or twelve. He had been able to escape the trap of the villainous Negagloom just in time; yet he wasn't happy. He couldn't set foot out of the alleyway, and it was dark. He had been sheltered in the bright light of his home, with his parents protecting him, but now he was left out in the world alone, with no one to save him.

He, too, wondered where the faithful superhero Animalia had gone. If she hadn't left they wouldn't be in this mess. If they hadn't been abandoned, they wouldn't be in this mess. No one would be imprisoned, no one would be endangered, everyone would be safe and living their normal, everyday lives. He would pursue his everyday conversations with his best friend.

Speaking of which, where in the world is April?

~…~

Ehh, I feel kind of bad for yelling at and nearly exposing Becky's secret identity. I mean, after all, she has been protecting this town for a while before I got here and I do have my own town to protect. I wondered how they were doing there without me. Not good, I imagine. It worried me, nonetheless, and I wondered if they were okay and if they were living just fine without me, or doomed to a life of miserable endangerment due to me not being there.

I felt homesick. I missed my bed at my house, and my mom and my dog and my dad and my friends and even my school. I missed being happy with my best friend at my own school. We would walk back to my house every day after school, but sometimes I wished I could tell him my secret identity. But every time I tried I felt like I shouldn't because that could encourage him to help me solve crimes and that would result in him being in constant danger because if villains knew he was helping me they'd know that he was one of my very few weak spots. Besides that weird thing where I hate when people say words wrong…

I turned from my squirrel-form and stretched my cramped limbs. Being a small little squirrel for all hours of the night while scrunched next to a family of nice squirrels wasn't exactly the ideal night for a human.

Maybe a map would help me find home…

Before I could continue walking down the street, I bumped into someone. Before I could excuse myself, I saw that it was none other than Becky.

"Oh," I said, completely calm, "hey." She didn't respond for a moment, but then crossed her arms.

"Hey." She said back. I couldn't tell if she was still mad at me or had mixed feelings.

"So, umm…whacha been up to lately?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"N-nothin' much, really…" She said. She even sounded a bit nervous, but that was just my opinion.

"Havin' a good superhero career?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, 's been going just fine."

"That's good…"

"Mmhmm…"

There was a long silence, but no one moved.

"Look, I need your help getting home. I'm getting homesick, and I'm worried that my town isn't getting along well without me."

Becky still did not speak for a moment, but I could tell she was thinking about what I said because I noticed she had a thinking face. I did the same thing when I had to think long about something. My thinking face was almost the same as hers.

"I'll see what I can do for you," I sighed in relief,

"Thank you!" I hugged her.

**Was that short? Random place to stop? No? Oh, well. Just review.**


	7. Anxiety

I was very excited. I had woke up this morning and had realized a new power: I can manipulate (control) plants, flora, etc. too. It was almost as if the natural world was completely under my control, and I love it. I went through the town, taking advantage of my new ability with every chance I got and exercised the power vividly: it was usually my tactic when I got a new power; I figured that if you can break it in and control it better it won't create problems or dilemmas for later. I had always cleared time for break-in-new-power time. Plus, it was fun.

Although, I felt like something was wrong. I felt like something about my history wasn't quite told right. I'd had this feeling before, and the best solution I could come up with was to just ignore it.

But this time was different. The feeling was stronger, and it made me want to go to the library and look up my family tree. But I knew they'd have no record of my family, at least not here. I knew I would have to wait until I got back home.

Then I thought of home. Everyone was probably looking for me, the town was probably overrun by villains, and my parents and friends were probably worried sick for me, wondering if I was okay. And not to mention I havea no idea what state Brownie was in without me—by being able to communicate, we became very close and Brownie was a best friend to me and was actually very wise, and looked after me a lot.

I couldn't help but feel homesick. I soon found myself at Becky's house, about to knock on her front door and request to speak to Becky immediately. Almost uncontrolled, I knocked on the door. A moment later, Becky's mom opened the door and was surprised to see April standing there.

"April, I thought your parents came home early?" I quickly caught on that that had been Becky's excuse for my sudden absence.

"U-uh, they, I…I came back because I remembered I never got the chance to thank you for letting me stay at your house while my parents were away…a-and I wanted to thank Becky too…" I quickly lied. When I saw her expression, I saw that she was flattered and surprised by my statement, and quickly fit myself into the mood of my statement.

"Well it was no problem at all, you're very welcome! And I can most certainly get Becky for you, why she's just in her room," Becky's mother turned to Becky's brother (the name escaped me at the moment) and directed him to go upstairs and get Becky. I saw that the boy obediently went to get his sister.

"Why, won't you please come in while you wait!" Becky's mother said politely, and I smiled politely and stepped in with a quiet "Thank you, ma'am." I held my hands together, dangling in front of me as I waited for the sound of Becky's footsteps down the stairs. Becky's mom continued whatever she'd been doing previously in the kitchen, and Becky quickly approached me with a curious expression on her face.

"Hey, April what's up?" She asked me. I pulled her aside so no one would hear us.

"Becky, I can't take it anymore I want to go home." I quickly explained.

"Well I-I don't know how I can get you there, I'm so sorry April?..." Becky said.

"T-there's got to be some way to get me home. I can't just be stuck here forever. There's got to be a way." I heard myself becoming repetitive, and I knew that meant I was growing nervous and uneasy.

"Is something wrong, Becky?" Becky's mom asked, probably having heard Becky's crestfallen tone and wondering what was wrong.

"Umm, well-"

"N-no, ma'am, everything is fine thank you…" I dragged Becky outside the house, noticing her mother shrug as I walked out.

"Get a lift on plane; borrow that huge mouse blimp thing I saw just floating around one day! There's got to be a way to get me home," I was being repetitive again.

"I can't just take Two Brains' blimp! Look, if we went back to Dr. Franklin and ask if there's any way he can help, would that make you feel better?" She asked. I nodded furiously.

"Yes, it would!" Becky poked her head back into her house and announced that they were going to go downtown for a little bit, and then I raced off in the direction of Dr. Franklin's office.

~…~

"Well I can see if I can get a jet for you, Animalia, but I don't know how long that will take, exactly. Terribly sorry," I groaned.

"No, no no. There has to be a faster way—" Then I remembered a very important detail.

"OH MY GOSH DUH! I can fly!" I exclaimed,

"But I'd need to get hold of a map to guide me home…" I said, quieter this time. Dr. Franklin fished a brochure-type folded paper and handed it to me.

"Here is a map of the county—and on the back is a map of the state. This should get you well on your way home." He explained.

"Wait! I need to find a way through Negagloom's dome...I mean, I could always call Cathy or Mikey and tell them they need to let me in right away, but they'd wonder how I got outside the dome…" I was muttering to myself by now, but Wordgirl and Dr. Franklin were staring at me like I'd grown a second head. I ignored the looks.

"Ughh, I just want to go home!" I groaned.

**Well that's all for this chapter. Seems like April is getting a little anxious, huh? Will she get home without revealing her identity to her friends and family back home? Find out! Reivew :3**


	8. Found My Way Home

"Alright, I need to find a way past the dome that's surrounding my city." April said."Don't you have friends inside the city that can open it for you?" Becky asked.

"I do, yes, but they'd be suspicious. They don't know that I'm Animalia and personally I'd like to keep it that way." April explained.

"Well what other ways do we have? I was locked out of the city once and the only way I could get the dome down was for someone to hit it for me. And I tried everything," Becky explained. They were walking home from school together—Violet had a dentist appointment so she left school early—and they seemed to be in their own bubble as they talked.

"Well I guess you have a point there. I mean, I've always hated lying to my friends, its just so hard to do. But I know I have no choice…" April complained. That had always been her least favorite part of being a superhero; she'd never been one to favor lying. She felt that one day she would be too sick and tired of lying that she would just let it slip by accident and she'd have hell to pay for it later on. But she knew that as long as she could keep it up for now, she would be fine for at least a little while.

"What are you going to say if they ask you why you were outside the dome?" Becky asked. April sighed.

"I'll have to say I was on vacation and I didn't realize he'd put up a dome." April felt like a terrible person speaking lies, even plotting them made her feel guilty.

Becky noticed that April looked sad and said, "Hey, if it's any consolation it's a better lie than I could have ever come up with." April smirked, and they continued on their way to Becky's spaceship.

~…~

April waited nervously for her friend to answer the phone. The phone rang and rang, until someone finally picked up. It was her friend's mother.

"Hello Mrs. Carmichael, is Sam there?" April asked.

"_Why certainly, April hold on one second."_ There was a silence over the line for a bit, but April heard the faint sound of Sam's mother calling for him and saying he had a friend on the phone for him. Minutes later, Sam answered.

"Sam, I need you to do something for me with no questions asked." April said quickly. She was skeptic of how it seemed they were perfectly fine when the whole town was in danger. His parents were usually pretty good at protecting themselves in disasters such as rogue villains, but she was surprised that they were able to protect themselves to such a degree without a superhero in town.

"_Yeah, sure what is it?" _

"I need you to shut off the dome surrounding the town so I can get in." April explained.

"_What? You do know that the only person who can't get in and out of the dome is Animalia and her alter ego—whoever that may be." _

"What?"

"_Yeah. April, everyone knows that. Negagloom can't just cut off our connections to the world like that, he's not that type of villain. April, where have you been?" _

April was hesitant to respond at first. She was thankful for the fact that he wasn't staring her in the face, boring into her eyes with a look of concern written deep in his eyes. But then she wouldn't get to admire his serious face, his sparkly eyes and the way he was always concerned for her. They'd been friends since they were first born (in rooms right next to each other—they always shared a birthday since before they could remember. Their mothers were also best friends for most of their lives.)

"I, uhh…never mind that right now, Jerome, I'll explain everything later. Just open the dome in a half an hour, okay? Please do this for me?" April begged. She heard him sigh over the phone.

"_Okay, I'll do it. But I expect that explanation, you hear?" _

"I promise. Thank you, Sam." April hung up and when she stopped walking, she was at the edge of town where Becky and her family were waiting. April stopped and hugged them before saying her goodbyes.

"Well I just want to thank you all again, you've really helped me in ways you couldn't understand." April said. April had a map tucked away in her back pocket and she and Becky's family were standing at the edge of town. Becky was standing beside her, ready to guide the beginning of April's journey home.

"It's no problem at all, dear, we're always here for you," Becky's mother said with a smile.

Becky's family left for home, but Becky herself stayed behind.

"Thank you so much for helping me out, I really do appreciate it." April said. Becky smiled.

"Well hey, it's my job to help other people."

"I'll never forget you and your town," April embraced Becky in a hug and began to hover above Becky.

"You're always welcome in Bridgetown," April began to fly higher in the sky.

"And you're always welcome here,"

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

~…~

I waited outside the dome for Sam to shut it down. I saw him creeping behind Negagloom (who was too distracted by whatever it was he was admiring about himself to realize that someone was behind him about to foil his plans) and stuck him a thumbs up when he saw me there. When he saw me, he looked surprised at me and I wondered why. He looked confused at me, and I wondered why. He pressed the button that shut down the dome.

Negagloom heard the sound of the dome shutting down and I immediately prepared for a battle.

"What? What's happening?" Negagloom wondered nervously.

"Miss me, Nega?" I called. He turned to me in horror, knowing his plans were doomed now.

"What are you doing back? How did you shut down the dome?" He asked, very scared.

"Let's just say I have backup." I pointed to Sam, who was standing near the button that controlled the dome, leaning on it with a sly look on his face. I chuckled at his arrogance.

"No! My plan is ruined!" He whined. I shook my head at him. It had seemed the police had shown up just in time.

"You won't stand a chance now that I'm back in town!" I exclaimed. I was prepared for a fight, but apparently he was too in-shock to put up a fight for the town he had taken over in my absence, and the police already had him handcuffed. I watched the police court him away. It was actually nice for me to not have to fight him, because after a half an hour of flying, I am _exhausted. _I'd much rather watch villains get sent to jail and get re-acquainted with my friends and family. After all, it had been a while.

After the prison truck drove away, I walked over to Sam.

"So, umm, Animalia…how did you get outside the dome? …and where's April?" I was suddenly nervous to answer.

"W-well Nega was able to get me outside the dome before putting it up…as for your friend, I-I don't know where she is, I-I'm sorry…" I explained. He crossed his arms and gave me a sort of a 'tell the truth' look. He was on to me, and when Sam was curious he would get his answers one way or another.

"What? I'm not lying…" The fact that I kept drifting off nervously did not convince him that I was telling the truth.

"April?" He said curiously, in a sort of a 'come on, tell me the truth now' tone. I was shocked. He had always been a smart kid, but now he had put two and two together…

He knows.

I gave in and sighed.

"Yeah, okay it's me." I removed the green mask that had surrounded my eyes and showed him the evidence that I am Animalia.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He asked.

"It's just…I didn't want you to get in harm's way by knowing my secret identity. I-I was just trying to protect you and everyone else," I explained, hoping with all the molecules in my body that he would understand and not be mad at me.

"Aww, I understand." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as a friendly gesture and we walked home.

**Aww, end. Sorry if it seemed like a bad way to end the story, or if it seems like there was really no plot to the story. It was only meant to be a small-plot story anyways, its all I had planned. Hey, who knows—maybe I'll make a sequel. Review?**


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